Atmospheric Concentrations

1
Atmospheric Concentrations
Source CDIAC
2
CGE Greenhouse Gas Inventory Hands-on Training
Workshopfor the Asian Region - Building an
Inventory Management System -Shanghai,
China8-12 February 2005

• Michael Gillenwater

3
(No Transcript)
4
What is an GHG Inventory Program for?

• Meet international obligations and expectations
• Inform international, national, and local policy
  making
• Enhance credibility of national climate policies
  through timely, transparent, and effective
  analysis and communication
• Foster consistent estimation approaches across
  government and private sector programs
• Respond to requests for information
• Champion for high quality and objective inventory
  information

5
What is quality?

• Transparency
• Completeness
• Comparability
• Consistency
• Accuracy
• Transparency is the most fundamental. If you do
  not document, then there is no way to demonstrate
  any of the other principles have been met.

6
Who cares?

• A wide audience of stakeholders...
• Decision makers and policy advisors
• International climate change community
• Provincial and local agencies
• The public and interest groups
• Businesses
• Scientists

7
National government

• What are the emissions and removals in other
  countries (both Annex I and non-Annex I)?
• What are the uncertainties in GHG estimates and
  are national inventories verifiable?
• What is our countrys contribution to global
  emissions removals?
• What are current and projected emissions and
  removals from key industries?

8
National government (cont.)

• What are the effects of existing or planned
  policies and measures (including policies that
  aggravate emissions)?
• Is our country meeting its UNFCCC obligations?
• Is there consensus among government agencies and
  key stakeholders on our emission estimates?
• What are the relationships between reducing
  greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental
  pollutants?

9
International community

• What is the your countrys contribution to global
  emissions and removals?
• Are your GHG estimates credible and transparent?
• Is your country meeting its UNFCCC obligations?

10
Businesses NGOs

• How do we quantify and get credit for activities
  that reduce emissions or sequester carbon?
• What activities, industries, companies, or
  policies have been responsible for significant
  increases or decreases in GHG emissions or
  removals?

Scientists

• What are the priorities for research and
  measurement?
• What are the scientific uncertainties in the
  emission and sink estimates?

11
Linkages
Research international scientific community
Trading and projects
LU/LUCF (Sinks policies)
Domestic emission reduction programs
Inventory Program
Negotiations IPCC
Corporate, regional, other inventories
Interest groups the public
Emission projections, climate economic modeling
12
Inventory management systems should...

• Ensure inventory processes are in compliance with
  COP decisions (i.e., Non-Annex I Party National
  Communications)
• Define and apply appropriate procedures for
  collecting, processing, communicating, and
  archiving inventory data and information
• Coordinate with relevant government departments,
  national agencies, and other organizations
• Provide inventory reports regularly
• Ensure the quality of inventory data

13
Inventory management system

• Inventory planning
• Inventory preparation
• Inventory management

14
Inventory planning

• Appoint national inventory agency
• Allocate responsibilities for inventory
  preparation and management
• Develop schedule
• Make arrangements to collect data from
  statistical agencies, companies, industry
  associations, etc.
• Create QA/QC plan
• Define formal approval process within government
• Develop review processes
• Integrate continuous improvement

15
Example U.S. Inventory Schedule
Oct - Nov
Late December
April 15th
April - September
Mid October
Nov - Dec
Jan - Feb
Incorporate public comments
Respond to interagency comments
Gather data and prepare initial estimates
Prepare draft report
Expert and interagency review
Submit Inventory to UN
Release for public comment
16
Inventory preparation

• Identify key sources
• Select methods and emission factors (GPG decision
  trees)
• Activity data collection
• Manage recalculations
• Implement QA/QC plan
• Basic checks should be completed on entire
  inventory (Tier 1) (see GPG Ch. 8)
• More in-depth investigations into key sources
  (Tier 2)
• Documentation

17
Key categories

• A key source has a significant influence on a
  countrys total inventory in terms of level or
  trend in emissions (GPG, Ch.7)
• A key source also may be determined through a
  qualitative assessment.
• A key source category is one that is prioritized
  within the national inventory system
• In general, countries should focus on key
  categories for resources and improvements

18
Inventory management

• Implement inventory review processes (e.g.,
  expert review, public review)
• Obtain formal approval of final results and
  report within government
• Submission of report to UNFCCC
• Make inventory information available to
  stakeholders and respond to information requests
• Archive all documentation and results
• Continuous improvement feedback

19
Uncertainty

• Uncertainty analysis is a subjective exercise, as
  it relies to a large extent on expert judgment
• Therefore, it is not a valid basis to compare
  inventories between countries
• Uncertainty analysis should be used as a way to
  investigate the quality of your inventory data
  and identify ways to improve data quality
• You achieve this by investigating data quality
• And communicating with data suppliers (e.g.,
  statistical agencies)
• Uncertainty investigations should be integrated
  within your QA/QC plan!

20
Resources

• IPCC Guidelines
• Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
• IPCC Good Practice Guidance
• IPCC LULUCF GPG
• New 2006 IPCC Guidelines
• UNFCCC reporting guidelines
• IPCC Emission Factor Database (EFDB)
• IPCC software

21
Other resources

• Inventory reports from other Parties
• UNFCCC website/GHG Data
• www.unfccc.int
• Inventory related reports from other Parties
• Online network of inventory professionals?

22
Closing remarks

• A greenhouse gas inventory is more than just a
  report. It should be viewed as an broader
  analytical program.
• A cookbook approach to developing a GHG
  inventory is not practical. There will always be
  a large and essential need for expert judgment at
  all levels of the process.
• A well constructed inventory should include
  enough documentation to allow readers to
  understand the underlying assumptions and to
  reconstruct the calculations.

23
Please feel free to email me in the
futureMichael GillenwaterEnvironmental
Resources Trustmgillenwater_at_ert.net

• Thank you

24
Flow of Energy Data
EPA
25
Emission Inventory Basics

• An emission inventory is an accounting of the
  amount of air pollutants discharged into the
  atmosphere. It is generally characterized by the
  following factors
• The chemical or physical identity of the
  pollutants included
• The geographic area covered
• The institutional entities covered
• The time period over which emissions are
  estimated
• The types of activities that cause emissions

26
Inventory Agency Responsibilities

• A single national entity to be responsible for
  the overall inventory
• Arrangements with collaborating entities that
  contribute data, research, estimate emissions or
  provide expert reviews
• Define legal authority to collect and disseminate
  data necessary for the preparation of the
  inventory
• Ensure inventory processes are in compliance with
  COP decisions
• Define and apply procedures for collecting data,
  preparing inventory, communicating results,
  submitting report, and archiving
• Liaise among government departments, national
  agencies,
• Ensure the implementation of QA/QC

27
Goals

• Develop high quality inventory at regular
  intervals (e.g., annually, every 2-4 years, etc).
  
• Resources are focused on the most significant
  emission sources in the country